This upcoming film will tell the tale of Gonzalo “Gonchi” Rodríguez, a much loved Uruguayan who dreamed of racing in F1. He did everything right in order to achieve it, however just before he reached his goal he was killed in a CART accident at Laguna Seca.

Gonzalo “Gonchi” Rodríguez didn’t have the easiest path – he faced many hardships yet stood up and raced with the best. Born in a country in where international motorsport is seen only on television, Gonzalo was a young man who poured everything into achieving his dream of racing Formula One. He was highly successful in F3000, and had just been picked up by Penske when he tragically lost his life during his second CART race. The filmmakers are calling it a story about inspiration and overcoming obstacles through dedication and love. We can’t wait for its release.

Take a look at the trailer:

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The 2014 Australian Muscle Car Masters took place at Sydney Motorsport Park last week. It’s the biggest retro touring car festival Australia has to offer, and we went along for the ride.

Photos by Scott Mitchell Media

2014 saw the 10th annual running of the Australian Muscle Car masters, a spectacular festival of motorsport held in Sydney for the sole purpose of celebrating the glory of historic racing machines from the past. This includes Group C, Group A and Group N touring cars, Trans am monsters from the 1960s and 70s, Group S production based classics and much more.

MORE: Let’s wind the clock back a couple of years and take a look at the 2011 Muscle Car Masters (video)

We hope you enjoy this exclusive Motorsport Retro Premium Gallery. For more information, take a look at the Australian Muscle Car Masters Facebook page.

Take a look at the full gallery below. Video coming soon!

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Rare footage shows Stirling Moss racing cars through his new Scalextric set with his wife Kate on his 29th birthday in September 1958.

It’s a modern 16:9 adaption of clip filmed more than 55 years ago, and it’s nothing short of fantastic. Sit back and let this short film wind your clock back to September 17th, 1958 and watch as a 29 year old Stirling Moss goes heads-up against his wife Kate racing the Scalextric set she’d just given him.

MORE: Sir Stirling Moss drives the 1959 Cooper Climax (onboard video)

It’s an old British Pathé reel, and it still looks great. Stirling Moss celebrates his 85th birthday tomorrow!

MORE: The best of Sir Stirling Moss (Gallery)

This footage was shot on September 17th 1958, ten days after his retirement from the 1958 Italian Grand Prix. It was a frustrating result for Moss, who had been forced to watch his overall points rival Mike Hawthorn take second place. Hindsight would see Moss place second behind Hawthorn in the Drivers Championship by just one point at the conclusion of the 1958 season. Had his gearbox not failed that day, he may have been a Formula One World Champion.

MORE: Frozen in time – Sir Stirling Moss (Gallery)

What a legend (photo courtesy of The Cahier Archive):

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Jump onboard Steve Platts’ Singer Chamois and come for a blast around the beautiful Cadwell Park as part of the ByBox Historic Touring Car Championship.

The Singer Chamois was based on the Hillman Imp, and it looks like a whole bundle of fun amongst the crowd at Cadwell Park. Watch as the field of pint-sized historics eat up the elevation changes of the British circuit whilst battling fiercly with each other. The video cuts a little short at the end, however the race was completed with the positions as they last appear. Enjoy.

MORE: Cadwell Park with Tiff Needell in a sidecar! (video)

For those who may be wondering what Steve’s Chamois (or any Singer Chamois for that matter) looks like:

Photo thanks to RetroSpeed.co.uk

If you just can’t get enough, head on over to Steve’s own YouTube channel for all the onboard Singer Chamois footage you could ever hope for.

While you’re here, take a look at what’s on offer through our newly released premium content delivery service, Motorsport Retro Premium;

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KNOWN simply as ‘The King’ in the United States, NASCAR legend Richard Petty has been paired up with Australian driver Marcos Ambrose for the last few seasons in the Sprint Cup Series.

But that’s not his only connection to the land ‘Down Under’ as many people have forgotten the time he made a trip to Australia.

In these rare photos secured by Motorsport Retro, we see Petty and fellow NASCAR driver Bobby Hillin on their trip to Melbourne, Australia in 1987 to undertake a Goodyear tyre test at the then-still-under-build Calder Park Thunderdome oval.

The circuit would host the first NASCAR race outside North America (as recently featured here on Motorsport Retro Premium) the next year.Petty joined Thunderdome owner Bob Jane and a range of drivers at a press conference to meet the local media – as well as taking some time to meet a local kangaroo!Given Australia was something of a new-comer to the art of NASCAR racing, a range of cars were constructed at Calder under the direction of long-time race car preparer John Sheppard and ‘The King’ took some time to inspect the new machines.

Enjoy these rare publicity shots of one of the biggest names in world motorsport – the sunglasses and hat haven’t changed a bit!


Follow Aaron Noonan on Twitter or Facebook

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Image: www.autopics.com.au via the Shannons Club

In late 1972 Chrysler released their fastest series production race car, in its day the fastest accelerating production car in Australia – the R/T Charger E49 Hemi Six Pack. The cars had all the potential in the world, so why didn’t they get anywhere?

The R/T E49’s launch coincided neatly with the beginnings of the ‘Supercar Scare’, a dark time for car enthusiasts in which politics and the media incited a national scare around the sale of homologation performance cars to the public.

The ‘Supercar Scare’ caused Ford to cancel its XA Falcon GT-HO Phase IV and Holden to cut its LJ Torana XU-1 V8 in an instant, with Chrysler to follow by cancelling the R/T program along with factory involvement in motor racing.

Which was a huge shame, because the R/T E49s were quick, climbing to third and fourth outright at Bathurst with no factory support.

It’s a fascinating, multi-dimensional story which you can discover in VH Valiant: The R/T ‘Super Charger’ that never made it over at the Shannons Club.

Image: www.autopics.com.au via the Shannons Club

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The 1958 Indianapolis 500 was won by 32 year old Jimmy Bryan, however it is better remembered for the tragic death of Pat O’Conner. The way in which the accident is reported in this American newsreel demonstrates how much things have changed.

We’re not in the business of celebrating fatal accidents here at Motorsport Retro, however we’re also not interested in pretending that risk and danger aren’t huge parts of racing either. This particular clip is taken from 1958, shortly after the running of the Indianapolis 500 and features highlights from the race, including the 15 car pile-up which claimed the life of Indiana born Pat O’Conner.

MORE: The 1961 Indianapolis 500 (video)

The drivers weaving through the accident scene, photographers dodging out of control cars and the tone with which the post-race news report deals with the accident serve as startling reminders of an entirely different time. Despite the catastrophic start to the event, the race ended up being quite competitive all things considered. The 1958 Indianapolis 500 – A race to remember.

MORE: Races to remembered – The 1971 Indy 500 (video)

Take a look at SpeedVision’s full race coverage of the event:

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Images: Canepa

“Porsche had, typically, done it first, and at a stroke every other car was out of date.” – John Wyer

This 1969 Porsche 917K, considered the first 917 to complete a race and recently treated to one of the most meticulous high-end restorations that a historic Porsche has ever seen, is up for sale at Canepa.

On the evening before the 1969 12 Hours of Sebring two very important people in the world of motorsport were having a chat. In one corner was Rico Steinemann, Porsche team manager, and in the other was John Wyer of J.W. Automotive Engineering. They were discussing the Porsche factory racing program for the next two years, and they were about to shake things up.

Steinemann was busy offering Wyer the Porsche factory racing contract for ’70 and ’71 and Wyer was working out how he could convince Gulf Oil that this was a very good idea. They made a gentleman’s agreement, and parted ways with a season of racing to organise the fine details and get started.

During that season J.W. Automotive Engineering won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in their Gulf GT40, collecting their second in a row and the GT40’s fourth. Porsche won the Championship of Makes. Guess which car would win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1970?

Porsche had agreed to supply J.W.A.E with seven 917s in 1970, and the first of those was chassis 917-004 – this car. The car had seen action already, running in the ’69 1000KM Nurburgring at the hands of Frank Gardner and David Piper and finishing 8th overall, contributing to Porsche’s Championship of Makes.

That race was the second contested by a 917. The first was at Spa Francorchamps earlier in the year, but that 917 was forced out during the first lap with a mechanical, so this car became the first 917 to complete a race.

J.W.A.E received the 917 at the end of ’69 and had it well sorted by March for the upcoming 1000KM at Brands Hatch, along with a sister car in chassis 016. Jo Siffert and Brian Redman had the pleasure of driving 004, running between second and third after a flat at the start, before they were collected by Chris Amon’s Ferrari on lap 177 and taken out of the race. The sister car, 016, would go on to win the race, with Pedro Rodriguez and Leo Kinnunen at the wheel.

Although the damage to chassis 004 was easily-repairable, the hectic race schedule led the team to return the chassis to Porsche for repair and replace it with chassis 017. The chassis tag from the original chassis was removed and welded to the new 017 chassis to create 004/017.

That chassis then began to move around the world, slowly coalescing into its complete form as it passed between Alan Hamilton of Hamiltons in Australia, Pat Burke and then to David Piper in the late ’80s, who had driven the car in its first outing some two decades prior. David Piper would finally complete the car in 1989 in its original Gulf colours, adding the vertical fin tail from ’71.

MORE: David Piper’s Porsche 917

Its historic racing career kicked off with Miguel Amaral of Portugal, who raced it through Europe in the mid-2000s before sending it to California and entrusting it to Kerry Morse to oversee a restoration.

Fast forward to 2011 and Bruce Canepa found and purchased it, planning a full and immaculate restoration to its Gulf Brands Hatch specification. Each component of the machine was seen to by the absolute pinnacle of expertise in its field, bringing together many workshops to create the most accurate restoration of a 917 to date, vetted by the team at Canepa.

Now in its finished state it’s not just amongst the neatest Porsches we’ve seen, it’s one of the most painstaking and refined restorations we’ve seen of any car. It’s utterly immaculate.

One of the original cars used for homologation in 1969, enjoying the distinction as the first of Porsche’s iconic 917s to have completed a race, and now finished as one of the most accurate and immaculate 917s in existence, this one’s a keeper.

Head to Canepa’s website here for more information.

Images via Canepa.

Looking for more 917 action? Why not go for a spin with Bruce Canepa in a 917?

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Goodwood Revival commentator Henry Hope-Frost picks his favourite 15 moments from this year’s surreal historic-racing extravaganza.

1 – JACKIE STEWART: GREAT SCOT

Fifty years after Sir Jackie Stewart tested a single-seater for the first time, a Cooper-BMC Formula 3 racer at Goodwood, Scotland’s racing knight and three-time F1 world champion was reunited with the very car and headed a large on-track gathering of machines from his incredible career. JYS’s sons Paul and Mark also drove their father’s 1969 title-winning Matra MS80 and ’73 world-beating Tyrrell 006 in an emotional Stewart family get-together.

2 – MASERATI’S MONZA MOMENT

Now a traditional visual treat for Revival visitors on arrival in the centre of the circuit, the ‘pit-garage recreation’ was this year dressed to resemble a scene from the 1954 Italian GP at Monza, complete with period signwriting and logos. A stunning array of front-engined Maseratis – all on show to help celebrate the Italian giant’s 100th birthday – was housed in each garage and audible “wows” could be heard all weekend as visitors came across another bit of attention to detail, Goodwood-style.

3 – DREAM-TEAM DEBATE

It was again an immense privilege and thrill to host and moderate the Credit Suisse Historic Racing Forum in the recently-restored Race Control building, now home to one of the event’s key sponsors. Motorsport legends Sir Stirling Moss, Derek Bell, Jochen Mass, Alain de Cadenet, as well as current F1 racer Max Chilton, made up the panel for a light-hearted debate on ‘dream teams’. To hear Moss on Mercedes and the British garagistes, Bell on Ferrari, Mass on Porsche, The Cad on his own Le Mans effort and Chilton on current F1 was truly captivating.

4 – FACE-TO-FACE WITH FANGIO’S 250F

For more years than he’d probably care to admit, Gary Pearson has been one of the most unflashy, unflustered and uber-successful historic racers and engineers. Little wonder then that he was charged with guiding Lukas Huni’s preposterously precious and valuable Maserati 250F around in the parade to mark the centenary of the Italian firm. The achingly beautiful machine is the very car used by Juan Manuel Fangio to score his 24th and final grand prix win at the Nurburgring in 1957. Which tells you everything you need to know.
“I’m a very lucky bloke,” Pearson admitted in typically unsmug fashion.

5 – DANCE TO JIM CLARK’S TUNE

The sight of long-standing Team Lotus mechanic Bob Dance, who fettled winners for Jim Clark, Mario Andretti and Ayrton Senna, leaning over a pristine, Classic Team Lotus-prepared, Climax-engined 25 in the collecting area ahead of the Glover Trophy for Formula 1 cars of the early-1960s was another stop-you-in-your-tracks moment. When vastly experienced racer Andy Middlehurst took his fourth straight win, I made sure Bob was at his side during our post-race Q+A.
“Today’s driving was of Jim Clark standard,” Dance said of Middlehurst’s effort. There is no more ringing an endorsement, surely?

6 – F1 DRIVER CATCHES THE FEVER

Max Chilton is a contemporary grand prix driver with a difference. Despite the 23-year-old busting his gut in F1 to finish near the back in a recalcitrant Marussia, he’s an affable, approachable and articulate young man who gets racing and admits to having the ‘fever’, unlike many of his adversaries caught up in that blinkered, self-important F1 trance. Max appreciates the history of the sport and is on a quest to learn more, so it was a shame when his Ford Mustang fell sick before he had a chance to sample some high-power-low-grip fun in the Shelby Cup V8 thrash.
“An amazing event which I highly recommend to everyone,” he enthused. Well done, Max, you’ve gained a whole new fanbase.

7 – SPORTSCAR ACES GO BACK IN TIME

Factory Aston Martin Racing duo Jamie Campbell-Walter and Darren Turner were entrusted with the biggest, boldest, loudest and fastest of any of the historic monsters at Goodwood: the bright-orange McLaren M20 Can-Am Powerwedge belonging to their AMR team-mate and collector of all things Gulf-liveried Roald Goethe. Part of the Jackie Stewart tribute (JYS tested it in 1972 but illness meant he never raced it) each day, the Chevy V8 leviathan meant a big box ticked for the British endurance aces’ portfolios.
“Is this fever?” JC-W asked me rhetorically as he climbed in.
“A real man’s car,” DT exclaimed, ashen-faced, after his Sunday run.

8 – BIG JOHN BACK IN A FERRARI

Goodwood is a special place for John Surtees. The very first car race – a Formula Junior scrap in 1960 – that the seven-time motorcycle world champion had ever seen took place there – and he was in it. Just four years later he was F1 world champion in a Ferrari. To see the trademark blue-and-white Surtees helmet back in the scarlet, 1.5-litre, V8 158 in which he achieved the unique double was quite something. The 80-year-old howled round in a demonstration run that reminded everyone why the Italians had nicknamed him ‘Il Grande John’.

9 – DUTCH DELIGHTS IN RAC TT

Dutch F1 racer Giedo van der Garde, currently Sauber’s reserve driver, had never seen the super-fast 2.4-mile Goodwood circuit and had only once before driven compatriot David Hart’s AC Cobra. But you wouldn’t have thought it if you’d seen him throw the twitchy V8 muscle car around to win the RAC TT Celebration race.
“That was only my second race with a roof over my head and the first time I’ve seen Goodwood, but it was great fun,” the former Renault 3.5 champion and GP2 race winner said after embracing Hart at the finish. “It’s a bit different from driving a Formula 1 car when you can brake so late. This one you have to dance into the corners!”

10 – A LE MANS LEGEND – IN A LE MANS LEGEND

Andy Wallace is the perfect advertisement for the myth that nice guys don’t win. The Le Mans legend, winner of the great race in 1988 aboard the Silk Cut Jaguar Group C XJR9-LM, was ready to do battle in another iconic La Sarthe machine: Nigel Webb’s D-type, 774 RW, winner of the tragic ’55 race. He took off his balaclava when I approached with mic and cameraman and smiled like a very rich kid in a very big sweetshop.
“Oh, thanks a lot mate!” he exclaimed when I reminded him just how famous and valuable the ex-Mike Hawthorn/Ivor Bueb car was. And with that he hussled the Jag to sixth in the Lavant Cup – a special race to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the slippery supercar.

11 – LUCKY STRIKE FOR REVIN’ KEVIN FANS

Remember those iconic 1980s images of the #34 Pepsi Suzuki RGV500 at impossible angles? Me, too. Which is why I’d always wanted to meet its rider, tall Texan Kevin Schwantz, whose exploits I followed avidly as a teenager. And here he was, right in front of me, giving full and enthusiastic answers to my slightly-star-struck questions in the collecting area ahead of his Revival debut. The 50-year-old former world champion raced Peter Bloor’s sole-remaining ex-Geoff Duke Norton 500 Featherbed – his first race on British soil for 20 years – with aplomb and racked up fifth overall. Still a class act.

12 – BIKE BOYS’ MID-RACE BANTER

Standing next to Superbike aces Steve Plater and Glen Richards in pitlane as their respective team-mates, Glen English and Scott Smart, banged shoulders aboard their 1953 Manx Norton 500s in a ferocious duel for second in the final few laps of the first Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy bike race was a joy. The two racers watched intently on the screen and ribbed one another with each passing manoeuvre. Good-humoured, gentlemanly, affectionate and a world away from the cut-throat business of their real jobs.

13 – BRACE OF BOMBERS

Not one but two AVRO Lancaster bombers graced the skies over the former site of RAF Westhampnett, whose perimeter road was to become the race track in 1948. With the World War 2 fighters – poster planes for several generations since the conflict – accompanied by a formation of Spitfires and Hurricanes, there was not a single pair of eyes not fixed firmly in their direction. And every camera and smart phone followed suit during the spellbinding display of British brawn.

14 – SALVADORI’S SUMMER SOLILOQUY

Arriving at Goodwood after a blast along fine rural blacktop astride my big KTM v-twin always gets me in the mood and this year the feeling of what was to come was heightened as I arrived under the bridge that separates the car park and the circuit boundary. The inscription ‘Give me Goodwood on a summer’s day and you can forget the rest of the world’, famously ushered in the circuit’s original heyday by Roy Salvadori, perfectly summed up the mood of the 150,000 who made the pilgrimage.

15 – UNEXPECTED CAN-AM PLEASURE

After a tigerish win in the Whitsun Trophy for pre-1966 sports-prototypes aboard his ex-Chris Amon McLaren M1B-Chevrolet Can-Am monster, McLaren Automotive’s road-car test and development driver Chris Goodwin took the usual plaudits at the finish line: a garland, a cigar and a chat with me. What he did next will stay with me forever.
“Get in, mate!” he said, looking at me, but surely not meaning me.
Nervously looking over both shoulders and finding no other takers, I realised he did mean me and climbed into the space next to Chris for his lap of honour. It was hot, cramped and loud – and as intoxicating as I’d hoped. The massive 5.4-litre Chevy V8 thumped against my shoulders and the spaceframe chassis flexed as Chris repeatedly booted the throttle and caught each slide for his appreciative audience inside and outside the car. With no helmet or belts, it was an assault on the senses the like of which I’ve never experienced.Arriving in parc fermé red-faced and watery-eyed, I thanked Chris. “Cool, isn’t it?” he replied. “Shame you can’t sit there in a race…”
Thank god I’ve got photographic and video evidence of my impromptu treat. No-one would believe me otherwise.

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Held in Switzerland, it’s one of the most exciting hill climbs around. This video demonstrates just how awesome the St Ursanne Hillclimb really is.

This video opens with a little bit of drifting and concludes eight minutes later with a run so rapid we swore we’d hit the fast-forward button. In between those two moments are a bunch of terrific historic racing cars tearing through the St Ursanne Hillclimb.

MORE: The monsters of Hillclimb (video)

MORE: Onboard a record breaking GP Hillclimb (video)

Of course if you watch until the end, you’ll remember that there’s nothing quite like a little bit of open-wheel and modern-tech action to put ‘regular’ fast cars in context. The pace at which they eat up the course is unbelievable!

MORE: The Fiat X1-9 from Hillclimb hell!

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He lost his legs, but not his attitude.  Take a look at this preview of the inspirational life of former F1 driver Alex Zanardi, who returned from a near fatal accident to become a Paralympic gold medalist and WTCC driver.

A short, intimate portrait of inspirational Paralympic gold medalist Alex Zanardi, who lost his legs in a crash which nearly claimed his life in Lausitzring, Germany. Zanardi was once an Formula One driver and an American Champ Car Series winner, today he is much more.

MORE: Alex Zanardi – Don’t dream it’s over (three part story)

Not only has he returned from his accident to win gold medals, hand bike world titles and even races in the World Touring Car Championship (!), today Alex Zanardi also possesses an intriguing outlook on life. He’s an inspirational guy, and we really enjoyed this clip.

MORE: Alex Zanardi – Dreams Achieved

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Imagine being trapped in a sealed room with a quad-rotor Mazda 767B screaming it’s head off. Yep, that sounds like our idea of heaven, too…

In most cases a dynometer or rolling road is a tuning tool, this time round it’s a recording studio for the best sounding song we’ve heard all year. That song of course, is the beautiful noise made by the Mazda  quad-rotor engine.

MORE: Full noise in a Mazda 767B around Spa (video)

In this case, it comes courtesy of a Mazda 767B, not to be mistaken for the later albeit similar sounding Mazda 787B. It’s incredible, we can’t get enough of it!

MORE: Le Mans Supercars on the streets of Japan (video)

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Classic Group C Sportscars are about as cool as racing cars can and ever will ever be. Just watch this and you’ll understand.

Classic Group C Sportscars are about as cool as racing cars can and ever will ever be. What could be better than a wild variety of engines, aero designs and liveries racing across the most iconic tracks in the world for hours upon hours on end, driven to the absolute limit by endurance heroes?

Let the memories flood back as you watch these Group C legends tear around Zandvoort as part of the 2014 Historic Grand Prix of Zandvoort. Just listen to those engines! It’s no surprise Group C Sportscars  captured the hearts of racing fans worldwide.

Spice SE88 (Blue / white) and Spice SE90 (Pink)

1991 Cosworth DFR V8 powered Cheetah G606 aka ROC 002 , as driven by Pascal Fabre and Bernard Thuner in the 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Gebhardt C91 as raced in 1992 at Monza and Silverstone as part of the FIA World Sportscar Championship. Originally Audi 2.L powered, we believe to be now a Cosworth 3.5 (listen to it!)

Sauber Mercedes-Benz C11 Group C Prototype, the 950hp successor to the Sauber C9. This was the first time such a car was presented as a Mercedes Benz, rather than Sauber. This car was at one stage owned by Michael Schumacher.

Thank you.

Story – MSR.

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Brilliant and rare racing footage, perfect soundtrack and all the character you could hope for – take ten minutes and enjoy this piece of classic motorsport gold with Peter Brock, Colin Bond and their early ’70s beasts.

It’s hard to get more ‘of its time’ than this video, which joins Peter Brock and his Beast for some Rallycross, before tagging along with Colin Bond and his Torana XU1 in the South Pacific Touring Car Championship.

There’s magnificent footage of a young Peter Brock thumping The Beast, looking very Mad Max, around Calder Circuit, before we head to Warwick Farm, Sandown and Surfers Paradise to see Bond attack the South Pacific Touring Car Championship.

Sit back, and enjoy.

Head here for more Peter Brock rallycross action: Video: Peter Brock and the Beast

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Straight-cut gearboxes and race-prepped engines scream through the mountains of La Roche La Berra as part of the 2014 Swiss Hillclimb Championship. The third round of the 2014 Swiss Hillclimb Championship was nothing short of spectacular. Held in La Berra in early July, the event saw a field of over 150 entrants pushing tin up hill through the picturesque mountains of Switzerland. Just take a look at some of these ‘monsters’…

MORE: Take a look at our original Monsters of Hillclimb video post

Produced by Finger Video, this highlights reel captures the magic of the round perfectly – with a spectacular variety of very desirable racing cars devouring the stage at breakneck speeds. You’ll spot an Audi S1, Delta S4 and Porsche 935 amongst other aging classics.

You can get your hands on a copy of the DVD through the Finger Video online store.

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Image: Motorsport Retro Shop

We’re not too concerned with the organic movement here, but if there’s anything we’d make an exception for it’s the monstrous turbo Formula 1 machines powered by BMW’s M12/13 in the early ’80s.

Simple and to the point this tee gets it right. It’s a standard fitting t-shirt and Continental Earth Positive made with 100% organic cotton. Grab one here.

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“We don’t pay a lot of money, but we give you a car that can win this [The 24 Hours of Le Mans] race overall.” – Ferdinand Porsche via Hurley Haywood

Hurley Haywood feels that he is the luckiest guy in the world, and in these five inspiring minutes with him you’ll find out why.

From his early days with Porsche, Hurley talks about what it meant to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, how cars inspired him, the races and series which drove him forward, where he’d still like to race and the cars he’d do it in in this gracious and uplifting interview from Roads & Rides.

Take five, and lift your spirits.

From here, try: Hurley Haywood reunited with Sebring-winning ’73 RS

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An unforgettable scene unfolds as a 996 Porsche GT1 does a backward flip whilst racing at Road Atlanta Petit Le Mans. There’s a lesson in there about down force, somewhere.

The 1998 Petit Le Mans stands forever as a race which retired French Formula One driver Yannick Dalmas will never forget. Having won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1992, 1993 and 1995, Dalmas was no stranger to sports car racing however we expect that this bizarre incident caught even he by surprise.

Who doesn’t recall watching in awe as the beautiful Porsche 911 GT1 took off and rotated backwards through the sky? It unfolded in a fashion so delicate and smooth that it could be called graceful were it not clearly about to lead to the violent destruction of the car.

MORE: Porsche 911 GT1 – Mark Webber and the monster (video)

Luckily Dalmas survived, and went on to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans for a fourth time in 1999, driving for BMW with Joachim Winkelhock and Pierluigi Martini. We wonder how often he thinks about the day he looked into the Georgia sky?

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Watch Gary Pearson tear around Goodwood in the Lightweight Jaguar E-type during qualifying for the RAC TT.  Throw in some words by Chris Harris and this is a terrific little video.

The Lightweight Jaguar E-Type, one of the most stunning creations ever crafted by the hands of men. It’s incredibly beautiful, impossibly rare, and here it is being blasted around Goodwood at the hands of Gary Pearson.

MORE: The stunning rebirth of the final Lightweight Jaguar E-Types (gallery)

The video also opens with some interesting words by the ever charismatic Chris Harris, who drove the car at the 2014 Goodwood Revival. For us however, it’s watching Pearson scream sideways around Goodwood which is  the highlight of this clip.

MORE: The nine greatest Jaguar race cars ever built

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Say hell-o to Group B spec Ferrari 288 GTO Evoluzione; the incredibly rare, 940 kilogram, 650 horsepower predecessor to the legendary F40.

You’re looking at Ferrari’s would-be Group B monster, a turbocharged V8 machine aimed squarely at the tail lights of the Porsche 959. Weighing just 940 kilograms and producing between 530 and 650hp depending on spec, the 2.8L fuel injected and turbocharged V8 Evoluzione had everything it needed to put Ferrari on top.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), the swift demise of Group B Racing worldwide meant that the Ferrari 288 GTO Evoluzione never turned a wheel in competition. Only five of the originally planned 20 Ferrari 288 GTO Evoluzione were ever built.

These stunning photographs by CarVerse and Ted7.

Take a look at the rest of the gallery below:

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